Velasco leads G-P with 23 points

CORPUS CHRISTI - Gregory-Portland Coach Mark Spencer knew there was one thing his Wildcats had to do if they were to beat Rockport-Fulton, stop Chris Wade. G-P held Wade to eight points on the night and he did not put in his first basket until 4:43 remained in the game.

@Score HS NEW:G-P65

R-F44

district 30-4A—boys Basketball

Meanwhile, Wildcat point guard Nate Velasco blistered the Pirates for 23 points as G-P pulled away with a 65-44 win at Wildcat Gym Friday night to remain unbeaten in District 30-4A play.

Velasco hit a pair of 3’s early and finished with 10 of the Wildcats 15 first quarter points as they took a 15-13 lead after one.

In the second the ‘Cats held the Pirates without a basket until Lucas Benavides, who finished with 15 points, hit a three with 2:33 remaining in the half. Velasco then continued to stay hot as he added nine points in the second and Ryne Kinney nailed a pair of 3’s as the Wildcats took a 33-24 lead at the break.

G-P extended their margin to 40-30 in the third when Reid Harrison hit a three and later added a bucket with 4:29 left. Taylor Stanford followed that with a pair of 3’s and the Wildcats were quickly up 46-30. Benavides ended the run with a three for the Pirates, but a Stanford basket handed the ‘Cats a 48-34 lead heading into the final period.

Velasco and Patrick Gutierrez opened the fourth quarter with baskets to make the score 52-34, but the Pirates answered with five unanswered points — four on back-to-back buckets by Wade — to cut the lead to 52-39 with 3:33 left in the game.

G-P then scored the next nine points to make the score 61-39 and put the game out of reach.

Rockport-Fulton fought off a late Gregory-Portland rally to defeat the Ladycats 51-41 at Wildcat Gym Friday night.

Taylor Patek led R-F with 13 points and teammate Brandi Huff finished 12 as the Lady Pirates improved their district record to 3-1.

The Lady Pirates bounced back well from their loss to Ray last Tuesday night as they dominated the Ladycats inside. Huff and Erika Williams forced the Ladycats to shoot from the outside, but it almost cost them as sophomore Whitney West drained five 3’s to finish with a game-high 18 points for G-P.

The Lady Pirates jumped to a quick 8-0 lead to open the game, led by Patek with five during the run. The Ladycats had their lone score in the first quarter on a basket by West with 3:01 remaining, but Rockport-Fulton answered with a 10-0 run, highlighted by a three from Patek to hand R-F an 18-2 lead to end the quarter.

The Ladycats cut into the lead in the second, opening with a 7-2 run to cut the margin to 20-9, but a three from Chandra Dixon ended the run.

The Ladycats started another run, this time reeling off six straight points in a two-minute span to cut the Rockport-Fulton lead to 25-18.

With the Lady Pirates leading 40-24 entering the final quarter, thanks to five points by Huff, capping an 11-4 run to end the third, West hit two of her 3’s and teammate Candace Walls added another as G-P outscored R-F 17-11 to make a game of it.